Introduction
During the summer break, I started my orthodontic treatment, which requires me to have clear aligners/braces on for at least 20 hours a day to align my mispositioned teeth. This treatment will take a minimum of 50 weeks for me, I am in the 8th week with braces, but I don’t think I am satisfying the requirement of wearing it for 20-22 hours per day, as I have not gotten used to wearing it and developed the habit of put it back as soon as possible after eating.
Difficulties in keeping my braces on include:
- Braces need to be removed when eating or drinking (except water).
- When putting back braces after eating/drinking, I need to go through a complicated cleaning routine: floss my teeth, brush my teeth, wash my braces.
- Unable to carry the whole set of cleaning equipment with me when I go out.
- Uncomfortable when wearing braces.
- Talk unclearly/sound weird when taking.
During this week, I am aiming to keep my braces on as long as I can. Other than recording the time lengths of wearing braces, I will also try to find out whether or not going out affects me from keeping my braces on. I kind of feel that I am more self-disciplined at home and I always eat a lot when I go out, but I don’t really have proof to show that the two events are related.
Statistics Collected
The timelines below show times that I kept my braces on, the areas where there is a gap between blocks is when I took my braces off. It is quite interesting to see how my sleep duration and meal times could also be reflected.
Tuesday 3rd Oct: 20hrs
| 00:00 - 07:30 |
|
09:00 - 12:10 |
|
12:50 - 19:10 |
|
21:00 - 24:00 |
Wednesday 4th Oct: 19.8hrs
| 00:00 - 07:30 |
|
10:00 - 11:40 |
|
12:00 - 15:20 |
|
16:10 - 18:30 |
|
19:00 - 24:00 |
Thursday 5th Oct: 22.7hrs
| 00:00 - 11:30 |
|
12:20 - 18:00 |
|
18:30 - 24:00 |
Friday 6th Oct: 15.7hrs
| 00:00 - 7:30 |
|
13:10 - 14:40 |
|
16:50 - 22:20 |
|
22:50 - 24:00 |
Saturday 7th October: 22.2hrs
| 00:00 - 12:50 |
|
13:30 - 16:10 |
|
16:50 - 18:00 |
|
18:30 - 24:00 |
Sunday 8th October: 21.5hrs
| 00:00 - 13:10 |
|
14:10 - 18:00 |
|
19:30 - 24:00 |
Monday 9th October: 18.2hrs
| 00:00 - 7:30 |
|
12:30 - 17:40 |
|
18:30 - 24:00 |
To compare and find out the relationship between the amount of time I spend without braces and the amount of time I spend out of home, I made this scatter graph displayed below.
Each point plotted represents a day in each week and its x and y coordinates determine the time without braces and the time spent out respectively. The diagonal line at the center is the line of best fit derived from all seven points. The closer the points are to the line of best fit, the stronger the two events correlate, and the closer the coefficient of determination (R-squared) is to 1, the better the fit. An R-squared value of 0.3224 indicates a moderate positive linear relationship. This graph proves that the events, of not wearing braces and going out, are somehow positively correlated, meaning that the longer I stay outside, the longer I tend to be without braces.
Reflection
On average, I have my braces on for approximately 20.014 hours per day for this week. I have just reached the minimum of 20 hours. The data from Friday dragged the average downwards enormously; I remember I went out with my friend that day, and we were constantly talking and eating during the whole afternoon, so I simply gave up on wearing my braces for a long period of time.
I feel that the orthodontic treatment prevents me from eating snacks or extra meals. When considering that I have to go through the cleaning process after eating, I become too lazy to eat. A reason that I avoid wearing braces when I am out may be that I have to talk frequently, whereas if I stayed at home for the day, I could be completely silent.
